Latest news with #HarmonicAI
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'You Never Want To Take The Highest Offer': Robinhood CEO's AI Startup Raises $100M, Hits $875M Valuation With Backing From Kleiner Perkins
Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev is stepping beyond trading apps with a new venture: Harmonic AI, a startup aiming to create what it calls "mathematical superintelligence." The company last month announced the closing of a $100 million Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $875 million. Tenev co-founded Palo Alto-based Harmonic in 2023 alongside CEO Tudor Achim, a former executive at autonomous driving company Though he is not running the company day to day, Tenev serves as executive chairman, Bloomberg reports. Don't Miss: —with up to 120% bonus shares—before this Uber-style disruption hits the public markets $100k+ in investable assets? – no cost, no obligation. Harmonic AI says the round was led by Kleiner Perkins with major backing from Paradigm, and included Ribbit Capital along with existing investors Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Charlie Cheever. The startup closed a $75 million Series A round last year led by Sequoia Capital, with significant participation from Index Ventures and additional backing from GreatPoint Ventures, Era Funds, Blossom Capital, DST Global partners, Elefund, Nikesh Arora, and Jared Leto. A Math-First AI That Promises No Hallucinations and Full Verification Tenev said the company's near-term goal is to build AI that solves complex math problems better than any human. The long-term vision includes solving unsolved mathematical problems and expanding the approach to fields like physics and computer science, Bloomberg reports. Trending: Named a TIME Best Invention and Backed by 5,000+ Users, Kara's Air-to-Water Pod Cuts Plastic and Costs — Unlike OpenAI or Google's large language models, Harmonic emphasizes formal logic and mathematical reasoning over natural language training, which the company says helps eliminate the risk of hallucinations often seen in chatbots. "We can ensure that every piece of output and every step in our model's reasoning is verifiably correct," Tenev told Bloomberg. "That is just a very different approach to building AI models that I think is going to be the approach that dominates in the future." According to Harmonic, Aristotle has already shown measurable improvement. In tests using the MiniF2F benchmark, the model's score increased from 83% to 90% in a single month. "Aristotle's MSI is uniquely suited for mission-critical applications where there is no margin for error, such as generating verified software and by formally verifying existing code – a breakthrough for industries including blockchain, financial services, aerospace and other safety-sensitive systems," Achim said in a statement.'You Never Want to Take the Highest Offer': Why Tenev Chose a Sub-Unicorn Valuation Despite having the investor interest to cross the $1 billion valuation mark, Tenev said he intentionally stopped at $875 million. "You never want to take the highest offer," he told Bloomberg, adding that optimizing for valuation is not the right move for a startup with long-term scientific ambitions. According to Inc., Elon Musk recently told Y Combinator's AI Startup School that digital superintelligence could arrive this year or next. Tenev, who pursued a Ph.D. in math at UCLA before co-founding Robinhood, is now pushing toward advanced AI in a similar timeframe. As the company scales its team and expands access to its flagship AI system, Aristotle, Harmonic is continuing to recruit engineers, researchers, and builders who want to push the boundaries of verified reasoning, according to its website. Read Next: Warren Buffett once said, "If you don't find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die." Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article 'You Never Want To Take The Highest Offer': Robinhood CEO's AI Startup Raises $100M, Hits $875M Valuation With Backing From Kleiner Perkins originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Business Insider
12-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Robinhood (HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev's AI Math Start-Up Is Valued at $875 Million
Harmonic AI, an artificial intelligence start-up co-founded by Robinhood Markets (HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev, has raised $100 million in new funding based on an $875 million valuation. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. The start-up company is focused on improving a subject that often confounds AI models and applications: mathematics. The latest Series B funding round values Harmonic AI at $875 million, said Tenev, who serves as the company's executive chairman. Founded in 2023 by Tenev and company CEO Tudor Achim, Silicon Valley-based Harmonic AI is focused on building AI systems that can solve complex math problems, creating what the company refers to as 'mathematical superintelligence.' Harmonic plans to make its AI model called 'Aristotle' available to researchers and the general public by year's end. Solving Math Problems 'The near-term goal is to build an AI that solves math problems at a level that is superior to any human,' said Tenev in a recent media interview. 'The ultimate goal would be to solve major unsolved mathematical problems and expand that to problems in physics and computer science.' Tenev said privately held Harmonic's mathematics approach should give it an advantage over large language models, which underpin AI chatbots and are generally not as adept at solving complicated math equations. Harmonic also seeks to eliminate the issue of AI hallucinations, which is when a chatbot makes up information. Harmonic AI previously raised $75 million in a funding round. HOOD stock has gained 164% this year. Is HOOD Stock a Buy? The stock of Robinhood Markets has a consensus Moderate Buy rating among 21 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 15 Buy, five Hold, and one Sell recommendations issued in the last three months. The average HOOD price target of $79.85 implies 15.54% downside from current levels.
Los Angeles Times
11-07-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Robinhood CEO's AI math startup valued at nearly $900 million
Harmonic AI, an artificial intelligence startup co-founded by Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev, has raised $100 million in funding to tackle a problem that has sometimes confounded AI models: math. The Series B funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Paradigm. The deal values the AI startup at $875 million, said Tenev, who serves as the company's executive chairman, a non-operating role. Harmonic's CEO is Tudor Achim, who previously led autonomous driving startup Founded in 2023 by Tenev and Achim, the Palo Alto, California-based startup aims to build AI systems that can solve complex math problems, creating what the company refers to as mathematical superintelligence. Harmonic plans to make its flagship AI model, Aristotle, available to researchers and the general public later this year. 'The near-term goal is to build an AI that solves math problems at a level that is superior to any human,' Tenev told Bloomberg News. 'The ultimate goal would be to solve major unsolved mathematical problems and expand that to problems in physics and computer science.' Tenev said Harmonic's math-first approach should give it an advantage over large language models, which underpin AI chatbots and are generally not as adept at solving complicated math problems. Harmonic also seeks to eliminate the issue of hallucinations, or when a chatbot makes up information, by relying on formal verification, a mathematical method used to guarantee an AI system functions correctly. 'We can ensure that every piece of output and every step in our model's reasoning is verifiably correct,' Tenev said. 'That is just a very different approach to building AI models that I think is going to be the approach that dominates in the future.' Harmonic previously raised $75 million from Sequoia and Index. Its new funding round gives the company a valuation just under the $1 billion threshold that would make it a 'unicorn.' Tenev said that was an intentional choice. 'You never want to take the highest offer,' said Tenev, who raised billions in funding for Robinhood before the stock-trading service's 2021 initial public offering. 'Optimizing for valuation is never the right choice.' Clark writes for Bloomberg.
South China Morning Post
11-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Robinhood CEO's AI maths start-up valued at US$875 million, just shy of unicorn status
Harmonic AI, an artificial intelligence start-up co-founded by Robinhood Markets chief executive officer Vlad Tenev, has raised US$100 million in funding to tackle a problem that has sometimes confounded AI models: maths. The series B funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Paradigm. The deal valued the AI start-up at US$875 million, said Tenev, who serves as the company's executive chairman, a non-operating role. Harmonic's CEO is Tudor Achim, who previously led autonomous driving start-up Founded in 2023 by Tenev and Achim, the Palo Alto, California-based start-up aims to build AI systems that can solve complex maths problems, creating what the company refers to as mathematical superintelligence. Harmonic plans to make its flagship AI model, Aristotle, available to researchers and the general public later this year. 'The near-term goal is to build an AI that solves maths problems at a level that is superior to any human,' Tenev said. 'The ultimate goal would be to solve major unsolved mathematical problems and expand that to problems in physics and computer science.'
Bloomberg
10-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Robinhood CEO's AI Math Startup Valued at Nearly $900 Million
Harmonic AI, an artificial intelligence startup co-founded by Robinhood Markets Inc. Chief Executive Officer Vlad Tenev, has raised $100 million in funding to tackle a problem that has sometimes confounded AI models: math. The Series B funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Paradigm. The deal values the AI startup at $875 million, said Tenev, who serves as the company's executive chairman, a non-operating role. Harmonic's CEO is Tudor Achim, who previously led autonomous driving startup
